


observant

by demonsorceress



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Ficlet, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-27 11:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2691689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsorceress/pseuds/demonsorceress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Jemma regrets underestimating her little sister’s ability to notice what’s going on between her and Skye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	observant

**Author's Note:**

> Sort of a sequel to [changing plans](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2677631).

Jemma thinks there's nothing better than spending a lazy winter afternoon snuggled up to her girlfriend on the couch under fluffy blankets, marathoning a show on Netflix.

Grace thinks there's nothing better than playing with Barbies all day in the company of her big sister and their friend Skye.

Skye just really loves hot chocolate and lazily resting against Jemma's chest for the duration of an entire Saturday afternoon. She can't get enough of this whole domestic thing.

Suddenly, Grace gets to her feet and rushes toward the plastic box full of Barbie dolls by the wall—or, you could say, across from the Barbie city she has set up. At first she patiently digs into the box looking for something, but it seems buried amongst a lot of dolls and she soon starts pulling those out of the box to make her search easier.

Until all of the dolls are out of the box and she groans in frustration.

“Gracie, what’s wrong?” Jemma asks.

She turns around to face her sister. “Where is Ken?”

Skye huffs out a breath. She finds it kind of hilarious that Grace owns a bunch of Barbie dolls and only one Ken.

“If it’s not there,” Jemma points at the now empty box and tbe pile of dolls, “then I don’t know. Is it not in your bedroom?”

She shakes her head with a sigh and proceedes to glance around, as if the Ken doll could possibly be hidden somewhere in their living room. She takes a short step forward and then freezes when she realizes she’s practically surrounded by her own Barbie stuff on the ground. And sighs again.

“Who needs men anyway!” Skye blurts out.

Jemma whips her head back to give Skye a glare. “Not helpful,” she mutters through clenched teeth, even though Skye’s guilty smirk is pretty cute. She would hardly mind Skye saying that in another situation, but children sometimes can’t tell the difference between a joke and something to be taken seriously. Jemma doesn’t want Grace to go tell her dad that no one needs men anyway.

Grace, however, has replaced her frustration with a toothy grin.

“Just joking,” Skye says trying to remediate the situation, but Grace’s smile only grows larger.

She carefully crosses the Barbie city and gets to the spot where she was sitting before, only to lean down and pick up two dolls from the floor. One has short, brown hair and the other’s long dark hair has a few red streaks. She brings them both closer to the couch where Jemma and Skye are.

“Ken is lost,” Grace declares in all seriousness. She holds up the two dolls side by side. “He cannot date Isabelle. But Victoria likes Isabelle very much. They can be a couple instead?"

Skye gasps loudly.

Jemma whirls her head around again, this time with a look that tells Skye this is an emergency situation.

It hits Jemma that, in her place, her parents would probably just help Grace find the Ken rather than bothering to answer her question. They'd say she's too young for that.

She wants her sister to be told this rather than being raised with the limited mentality Jemma was given. Grace won't need to struggle to learn it by herself when she grows older like Jemma did.

“Yes, of course,” Jemma replies and watches as Grace's eyes light up.

"You don't need one boy and one girl to make a couple," Skye elaborates. "Two girls can be together too.”

Jemma nods, waiting apprehensively for Grace's reaction.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Grace is a smart girl, but her response still baffles Skye and Jemma. Staring bright-eyed at them after a moment of silence, she asks, "Like you two?"

Jemma nearly chokes on air. The shock from her question quickly wears out, however, and then Jemma mirrors the amused smirk on Skye’s lips, looking at Grace like she’s the most precious child in the entire world.

Jemma knows she is.

Her tone isn't judgy like Skye and Jemma have heard so many times not only individually but also together; she's curious, nothing further. And it doesn't seem like just a question out of the blue; she's observed the way the two of them act around each other, even though they've never shown anything beyond close friendship in front of Grace. Quietly, she's noticed signs, started forming her own thoughts, and now she just wants them to confirm her assumption.

Jemma takes a deep breath. "Yes, like us," she says.

Skye tightens her arm slung around Jemma's shoulders, pulling her closer, and smiles fondly at Grace.

Grace lets out a little gasp of surprise, the cutest smile spreading across her face. "That is awesome!"

And just like that, Jemma regrets ever worrying about the way Grace would react if she found out her sister and Skye were dating. She adores Skye so much that Jemma shouldn't have expected anything different than her excitement right now.

"I know, right!" Skye laughs just as enthusiastically.

Grace leaves the dolls on the floor and rushes to jump onto the couch so that she can reach Jemma's ear. Placing a hand on Jemma's shoulder and gently brushing her hair away, Grace whispers into Jemma's ear, "Skye is better than boys."

Her voice isn't as low as she intended and Skye hears what she says, bursting into blissful laughter immediately. So does Jemma, rustling Grace's hair affectionately and placing a kiss on her forehead.

"I agree," Jemma says, and Grace grins tenderly.

"Awww." Skye leans in and softly kisses Jemma's cheek.

"Now excuse me," Grace says, back to that seriousness like she's in a business meeting. Like there’s nothing further to discuss regarding the current matter in hand. Because there really isn’t. "Victoria and Isabelle have things to do."

Jemma huffs out a breath, stunned.

"Oh my god, Jemma," Skye mutters as soon as Grace can't hear them anymore.

"I know," Jemma replies, resting her head on Skye's shoulder. "She's unbelievable."

"Oh, no," Skye counters with a hint of snark. "What's _unbelievable_ is that not everyone else can be like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by [this tweet](https://twitter.com/pablovillaca/status/456504583565475840) from a Brazilian writer where he transcribed a conversation between him and a 5-year-old asking him if she could marry two female dolls. And completely based around my personal belief that children are precious creatures free from the nasty judgemental opinions later forced upon them by society. Hope you liked it :)  
> Sequel: [cliffhanger](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2714213)


End file.
